Right signs, wrong times??

[WorriedMonkey]

After a lot of worrying and googling I'm now totally worked up about an experience of mine that is easily the biggest regret of my life. I've read quite a few similar posts but nothing exactly the same, Long post, I apologise but I want an accurate response to my questions please so here goes.

Put shortly, after 3 years in a great relationship the combination of a handful of arguments, lots of drink and being on holiday I have slept with a girl. We had unprotected vaginal and oral sex on one occasion. I woke up the following morning full of regret and worry, I realised that we didn't use protection and I immediately freaked out (this is totally out of character for myself). I have always taken my sexual health very seriously and have never taken such risk or contracted any STI's (screened on several occasions). I am particularly worried about Herpes due to the in-curability of it.

Approximately 12hrs after the encounter (around the time I was googling the symptoms and timelines of STD's) I began to feel a light tingling on and around my genitals. This provoked more research and anxiety. I contacted the girl and asked her upfront about her situation and for what it was worth she said she was totally clear. Throughout the day the tingling continued and while examining myself I was constantly questioning myself about wether the small lumps and bumps of my penis were the beginnings of blisters/lesions.

I spoke to a doctor within 36hrs, he said that wouldn't test me then as the incubation period for everything to be worried about is longer. It has now been 4 days since exposure and the tingling has peaked and dipped and for long periods been absent. There are as now no clear physical signs of infection on or around my genitals but the pins and needles/tingling is still hanging around. Further research has led me to conflicting sources, some say that symptoms that quick are impossible, some say that there is very little to no prodrome for a first outbreak and some say that the initial outbreak could be 2-12 days from exposure or even upto 3/4 weeks.

I'm confused, worried and very upset about the whole situation. I return home in about 2 weeks. I will be getting tested for everything in the next few days but as I'm aware of the possible timelines for the accurate results this makes it difficult for me to know what to worry about and how to conduct myself and my relationship in the coming weeks/months.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this, I greatly appreciate any and all help and will provide further details if required.

[mofofo]

I'm on the same boat as you worriedmonkey, however i only had oral exposure... It's been five weeks for me, I'm waiting for the 8 week mark to get a blood test done. My urine tests came out negative as well. My personal advice is to try to relieve yourself of the stress your dealing with. I was going through the same experience as you and after having a few doctors and friends look at my business and tell me I'm most likely fine I've calmed down and a lot of those symptoms have gone away. Another piece of advice I would give is to try not to sit and search up all these possible problems on the internet so much. While staying educated is a good thing, I learned that my constant research was causing me to experience this anxiety as well. This is just one of those times in life where you have to tough it out and wait. Hopefully our tests come back negative and we got resolved of our tension.

Goodluck!

Mofofo

[WorriedMonkey]

Tanks again to all of you. It may sound crazy but I'd be ecstatic if a doctor told me I had a yeast infection or Chlamydia, because I know a few tablets will sort it out.

It's difficult for me to believe that the things I physically feel (tingling in face, groin, back, legs etc) are totally imagined. This is why I want to know that if I've been experiencing it for 4 days now (starting 12hrs post exposure) would clear signs of herpes (lesions etc) have arrived or could they be on the way. I'm trying to take some comfort in a lot of opinions stating that there is no prodrome in initial outbreaks. However there are still various sources contradicting that.

Thanks again all

[MarkMoloney]

If it makes you feel any better mate I am in the same boat, but I had protected Vaginal Sex.

I had unprotected oral sex - I both wend down on her and she on me.

She did rub my penis against her wet panties while I was not protected though, but I doubt that is a risk.

I too was symptom free for about 18 to 19 hours after the sex. No issues at all. Now I have a burning / tingling sensation on my penis, scrotum, thighs, lower abdomen, and groin region.

Fleetwood20 has also assured me that it is very unlikely to be herpes, but I am also still very worried.

I also do not get cold sores, and I also have no other symptoms. When I am not concentrating on the sensation, I also seem not to notice it.

It could be some kind of an irritation that is not STD / STI related - Like a curable fungal infection like Thrush. In 2005 a girl gave me thrush, and until a doctor diagnosed me with this I was freaking out. Hopefully, for bot of us, we have nothing to worry about - Our symptoms are very similar though. Please keep me posted on how you are feeling!

Thanks.

[AchyInBrooklyn]

Everyone's experiences aren't the same but I do know that the virus can begin to manifest within the body anywhere from 2-12 days after contact with an infected partner. I didn't know when I contracted the virus but my boyfriend at the time we never used protection. About 2 weeks or less during sex my vagina was itching intensely but I had no clue! 24 hours after that I was in bed with a heck of a fever,headache,I was deathly tired and had intense tingling in my vagina and pain radiation going up my leg. I woke up in the morning with intense burning around my vagina and which turned out to be small bumps which later on in the day popped open and became exposed. It took nearly three weeks to heal. Hope this helps. My first outbreak was hell. I haven't had another since 2010 when I was diagnosed, but I do get one small lesion (a flare up) but the pain and tingling sensations never go away. What I've begun to notice too is that it is directly related to much all-over body joint pain.

[WorriedMonkey]

I don't get oral cold sores. The girl was a complete stranger, although anyone can have anything and people may think it wrong to presume but she was 29 and clearly took care of her appearance which to me says that she likely takes care of her health. on the other side though, she jumped into bed with me quickly and (just as I did) proceeded without protection.

We're unlikely to ever see each other again so a comparison probably ain't gonna happen.

My concerns are that I don't know if my "symptoms" are anxiety related and that if real ones were to arrive I'd dispel them as that too. For about 24-36hrs I lost my appetite a bit and was quite sleepy, both unusual for me. The tingling/pins and needles travels around all of my body but is mostly in the genitals. I'm trying to reassure myself that it's nothing because if I'm working/concentrating on something I seem not to notice it.

One clear question I'd like some help with, if I had contracted herpes could I/would I experience prodrome this soon and if so how soon would lesions etc appear?

Thankyou very much for your help.

[Fleetwood20]

Do you get oral cold sores?

The tingling is very likely to be stress. Nothing else really shows up that quickly. Try to relax.

Is there any reason to believe that this partner is an above average risk of STDs? If not then most one off encounters do not result in a transmission of an STD. Is she no different to you in terms of the care usually taken but in the heat of this moment...?

It would wise to test for the bacterial infections of chlamydia and gonorrhea which you can do after a week from exposure. Unless you have symptoms such as lesions or chancres then the chances of anything such as herpes or syphillis is very low.

What you could do is ask the partner to test for everything now such that if you show a clean set of results to each other in a week then both of you will feel very relieved and can move on with confidence.